Buta Kakuni - Japanese Braised Porkbelly

Pork belly is one of those unctuous guilty pleasures that you know will kill you some day, but you can’t resist taking another bite. Unlike “pork butt”, porkbelly actually comes from the belly of the pig and has layers of glorious fat. Salted and smoked, this cut is called “bacon”… need I say more?Cooked over low heat for a long period of time, much of the fat renders out (which you skim off) and the collagen in the tough bits breaks down into gelatin making the entire thing dissolve in your mouth on contact. While I love porkbelly how ever it’s prepared, it’s so rich that I like simple preparations the best.In Japan, buta kakuni is served as an appetizer along with some beer or sake. Literally translated it means “stewed square cut pork”. While it’s traditionally cut into cubes, I actually like leaving it in longer strips then slicing it before serving.The dried sardines and pork make a flavorful broth while the ginger and garlic evens out any overly fishy or porky tones. The braising liquid has a small amount of soy sauce for added umami and “that Japanese taste”, but it’s mostly seasoned with salt with just a touch of sugar to balance it all out.This goes great with some stir fried greens (flavored with the braising liquid), but I also love having slices of this over udon noodles with some of the braising liquid in the dashi.

Yield:

Serves 4-8

Ingredients

1. small handful of dried sardines (about 2 tablespoons)
2. 5 1/4″ thick rounds of ginger
3. 2 cloves of garlic crushed with a heavy object
4. 1 C water
5. 1/4 C mirin
6. 1 Tbs sugar
7. 2 Tbs sake
8. 2 tsp soy sauce
9. 3/4 tsp kosher salt
10. pork belly cut into 2″ strips

Directions

1. Choosing the right pork belly is important. The meat part should be well marbled, and there should be even layers of fat between the layers of meet (you don’t want thicker meat layers or thicker fat layers).
2. Wrap the dried baby sardines in a cheese cloth and tie with some kitchen twine to make a “bouquet garni” of fish (if you can find them you can also use a fillable disposable tea bag). You can leave them loose, but it’s a lot easier to fish them out of the stock if you do this.
3. Pick a small dutch oven (or other heavy bottom pan with a tight fitting lid) that will snugly fit the pork in a single layer. Combine all ingredients except the pork belly in the pot, cover and simmer for about 15 minutes to release stock from fish.
4. Remove the bouquet garni and throw it out. Add the pork belly (make sure there is enough broth to cover the meat), cover and cook over low heat for 2 to 3 hours or until the meat falls apart and the fat is silky smooth.
5. Ideally you’ll want the pork to sit in the broth overnight putting it in the fridge after it cools off. This will do 2 things: it gives the meat a chance to absorb more flavor and it will give you a chance to easily skim off the rendered fat.
6. Gently reheat, slice and serve with some of the braising liquid and some steamed bok choy.

Notes

Buta Udon - Udon with Braised Pork

Okinawa is the southern-most island of Japan, just a stones-throw from Taiwan and their food takes cues from their neighbors, using a lot of pork and fish.Rather than using a traditional dashi based soup stock for udon, I’ve combined some braising liquid from the pork belly kakuni I made the other night with dashi to create a tasty, though unconventional broth for the noodles. If you’re a ramen maniac or an udon fanatic (or better yet, both), this may be your perfect bowl of noodle soup as it falls somewhere in between the two while tasting entirely different from eitherI used Sanuki Udon noodles which are much thinner than other types of udon, yet they have a pleasantly firm texture when cooked al dente. The soup has a deep almost indescribable savory flavor met right in the middle by a subtle sweetness and a mellow zing coming from the long-cooked ginger. It’s inexplicably light, yet rich at the same time. The slices of pork on top start melting like butter on contact with the hot soup. Putting a slice in your mouth gives it just the nudge it needs to sublimate into a pool of rich meaty goodness.I know it’s not every day you have Japanese braised pork laying around, but to be honest, I actually made the pork last night with the intent to make this udon today (yes, it’s THAT good).

Yield:

Serves 2

Ingredients

1. 2 C dashi
2. 1 C braising liquid from buta kakuni (fat skimmed)
3. 1-2 Tbs soy sauce (depending on how salty the braising liquid is)
4. 2 bundles udon noodles
5. 8 slices of buta kakuni
6. scallions finely chopped

Directions

1. Put the dashi and braising liquid in a pot and simmer. Taste the soup adding up to 2 tablespoons of soy sauce if needed. If after adding 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, it’s still not salty enough, supplement with salt until you’re happy.
2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Following the package instructions, boil the udon until about 1 minute before they are done. For example, if the directions say to cook for 6 minutes, boil them for 5. This is because the noodles continue to cook once you add them to the soup.
3. Drain the udon and give it a quick rinse to get rid of any extra starch. Put the noodles in 2 bowls, top with 4 slices of pork belly each, scatter some scallions on top then laddle the hot soup over everything. Other great toppings include baby mizuna greens (pictured), enoki mushrooms (pictured), or a poached egg. Serve with a little white pepper to sprinkle on top.

Notes

豚カツ - Tonkatsu - Japanese Pork Cutlet

Tonkatsu (豚カツ) is a cutlet of pork, breaded and deep fried until crisp and golden brown. While it’s become a ubiquitous cafeteria staple in Japan, there are many restaurants that specialize in tonkatsu and related dishes.Tonkatsu has a crispy panko crust that seals in all the juices of the pork, which makes for a moist tender cutlet that’s almost reminiscent of an Austrian Wiener Schnitzel. The name Tonkatsu yields another clue as to its ancestry. Ton, means pork in Japanese, and katsu is an abbreviation of the English word “cutlet” (pronounced ka-tsu-reh-toh in Japanese). This suggests the dish could be a result of the American influence during the mid to late 19th century, which also happens to be around the time Tonkatsu first started showing up on menus in Tokyo.Whatever its origins, tonkatsu’s popularity has spread all over Asia with regional variations, such as in Korea, where it’s known as donkkase (돈까스).Since Tonkatsu is a simple dish that only has a few ingredients, the quality of the ingredients matters. In this case it’s crucial that you use a high quality piece of pork, otherwise you may end up with a tough leathery chew toy that you’ll end up feeding to your dog. I like to start out with a 1″ thick boneless center-cut pork chop (preferably of the Berkshire variety). Since this is a little on the thick side for deep frying, I give it a good whacking with a chefs knife, which tenderizes the meat while thinning it out.

Yield:

Serves 4

Ingredients

1. 4 center cut pork chops (1″ thick)
2. all-purpose flour for dredging
3. salt and pepper to taste
4. 1 egg beaten
5. 1 C panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
6. oil for frying
7. 1/4 head of cabbage shredded on a mandoline (optional)
8. Tonkatsu sauce for serving (Worcestershire sauce can be substituted)

Directions

1. Shred the cabbage with a mandoline and soak in a bowl of ice cold water for at least an hour. This helps get the cabbage nice and crisp while muting some of the “cabbage smell”.
2. Prepare the pork by removing any extra fat or tough silverskin from the sides of the cutlet. Use a chef’s knife to tenderize the cutlets in a crosshatch pattern by using a drumming motion across the surface, then turning the meat 90 degrees and repeating. Do this to both sides of each cutlet until they are 3/4″ thick.
3. Salt and pepper both sides of each cutlet then dredge them in flour, making sure to get an even coat on the sides. The flour combined with the egg in the next step helps the panko adhere to the meat.
4. Get two shallow bowls and beat an egg in one, and add the panko to the other. Add 3/4″ of oil into a heavy bottomed pot and heat over medium heat.
5. Coat a cutlet in egg then transfer to the bowl with the panko. Shake the bowl to evenly coat the cutlet, then press on the cutlet to get a nice thick coating of panko. Flip and press on the other side then repeat with the rest of the cutlets.
6. Once the oil is at 340 degrees F, gently lower the tonkatsu into the oil, being mindful not to scrape too much panko off, while being careful not to deep fry your hand. Once the the cutlets are golden brown on one side, carefully flip them over and brown the other side. Continue cooking until the pork reaches 137 degrees F at its thickest part. Transfer to a paper towel lined wire rack and let it rest of about 5 minutes.
7. Letting the meat rest allows the internal temperature to continue to rise to around 145 F while allowing the proteins to relax, reabsorbing some of the juices so they don’t run all over your plate.
8. I like to serve my tonkatsu whole with steak knives, but you can cut them before plating if you prefer. Drain the cabbage and and serve alongside the tonkatsu with some tonkatsu sauce and rice.

Notes

Pirikara Shogayaki - Spicy Ginger Fried Pork

This is a simple weeknight dish that you might see resurface the next day in your bento box for lunch if you lived in Japan. While most shogayaki recipes call for using soy sauce, I like the way the nuttiness in the miso plays with the pork. When you fry it, the sauce caramelizes releasing an irresistible aroma of sweet miso, ginger and garlic.

Yield:

Serves 1

Ingredients

1. 1 tsp grated ginger
2. 1 clove garlic minced
3. 1 Tbs miso
4. 1 Tbs mirin
5. 2 tsp gochujang (other other sweet hot sauce)
6. 1/4 lbs thinly sliced pork (should be no thicker than 1/8″)

Directions

1. Mix the ginger, garlic, miso, mirin, and gochujang together in a small bowl to make a thin paste. spread the paste on both sides of a piece of meat and set it down on a plate. Cover with another piece of meat and spread some more sauce on top. Continue stacking and saucing until you run out of pork.
2. Get a heavy bottomed pan or cast iron skillet very hot over medium heat. If the pork you’re using has a lot of fat you shouldn’t need any oil, but if it’s leaner go ahead and add some to the pan and swirl it around. Scrape off any excess sauce and fry each piece of pork until brown on one side, flip then fry on the other. The pork will have a tendency to curl up, so use a spatula to press it down.
3. When the pork is cooked, transfer to a plate and serve immediately with white rice.

Notes

Pork Katsu With Quick Carrot Pickles

Tonkatsu—deep-fried breaded pork—is a European-inspired dish that evolved during the late 19th century in Japan. Here, the pork is pounded thin and simply panfried. Pickled carrots offer a cool bite.

Yield:

Serves 2

Ingredients

1. 3 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
2. 1 tablespoon water
3. 1 teaspoon sugar
4. 2 large carrots
5. 2 scallions, very thinly sliced diagonally
6. 1 large egg
7. 1 cup cup panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
8. 2 (3 1/2- to 4-oz) boneless center-cut pork chops
9. 3 to 4 tablespoons vegetable oil

Directions

1. Whisk together vinegar, water, sugar, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp pepper in a large bowl. Using a vegetable peeler, shave as many ribbons as possible from carrots. Toss carrots and scallions with dressing.
2. Lightly beat egg in a shallow bowl. Combine panko, 1/4 tsp salt, and 1/8 tsp pepper on a large plate.
3. Pound pork chops to 1/8 inch thick between 2 sheets of plastic wrap with flat side of a meat pounder or with a rolling pin. Season both sides with 1/8 tsp each of salt and pepper (total).
4. Coat with egg, letting excess drip off, then with panko, pressing to help adhere. Heat 3 Tbsp oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Cook chops (in batches if necessary), turning once, until golden and just cooked through, 4 to 5 minutes total, adding remaining Tbsp oil if necessary. Drain briefly on paper towels and serve with carrot pickles.

Notes